Manual Arts High School - Artisan Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

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186 T H E A R T i S A X S ' 3 THE COSSACK CAVALIER (+ ACH COUNTRY F THE W RLD has its cavaliers and is permeated Jk L by their spirit of gallant living and daring progressiveness. Russia, too, has her cavaliers of adventure, of intrigue, and of militarism, but she is somewhat unique in the possession of a Cossack Cavalier, who rides not a flesh and blood horse as his comrades do, hut the elusive animal, Pegasus. All cavaliers ride horses; it is a function that distinguishes them, outwardly. from other types of humanity, and constitutes an important part of their person- ality. So .Mikhail Lermontov, as the great Russian poet anil the possessor of tre- mendous literary genius, rides the skies on the wings of the spiritual horse, Pegasus. Yet like most progressive geniuses, Lermontov finally became entangled in difficulties with the political authorities. He commemorates the death of Pushkin, the only poet whom the Russians consider his superior, with an obituary poem that condemned Czar Nicholas I for allowing such a great man be killed in a foolish, unnecessary duel. The poem also defied the Russian political propaganda in literature which ex- pounds the error which lies in humility and submission to tyranny. Lermontov succeeded in arousing the spirit of the people and the ire of the government. The result was his simultaneous fame in his native land and exile from Russia into the Caucasus. This was not in the least repulsive to the poet. He adored the Caucasian coun- try and its Cossack people with all his immense passion for nature and simple hu- man beings, lie tired of the frivolity and dissimulation of aristocratic St. Petersburg society. He desired plain comfort and natural pleasures. He found all the soothing landscapes, the inspiring associations, and the peaceful athmosphere in the colorful Caucasian region in which he lived as a child. But realizing the enormity of the offense in exiling their supreme literary lumi- nary, the civil authorities recalled Lermontov. He returned — and renewed his dis- sipations in the idle younger set of St. Petersburg. He indulged in bacchanalian orgies every night, feverishly penning masterpieces between each debauch. At the age of twenty-seven, in the year 1841, Lermontov died. Like Pushkin. he was killed in a duel with an army officer whom he had insulted by one of his sarcastic remarks. Yet despite his failure to adjust himself to a world that is always too prime- val and too unimaginative to appreciate genius, Lermontov was ,, cavalier. He was fearless, gallant, and progressive, as all cavaliers are, but he was even more than that, because he rode the winged horse, Pegasus.

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188 T H E A R T ISA X S ' 3 if) f-Lt - ■i ! I ' Tl THE EPHEBIANS The Ephebians fur the Summer ' 30 were chosen by members of the Cavalier class, the Manual Arts faculty, and were approved by the principal ' s office. The thirteen students accorded this honor were: Margaret Aitken. who now holds the position df girls ' self-government president of the student body; Mildred Maker, who is a former Senior B vice-president and present girls ' vice-president of the student body; Lucille Gentry, who now serves as student body secretary; Shirley Jennings, who is an active Girls ' League member and a winner of the California Scholarship Federation Gold Seal; Mary Ray Johnson, who is the hostess of the Senior A class, serving in the capacity of girls ' vice-president; Idamyrtle Klepniger, also is another Gold Seal graduate; Carmelita Lane and Henry Bruman stand high in scholarship. Henry was also a member of the chemistry team. Tom Cashill is student body hoys ' vice-president, and has also made an enviable record in athletics. William Christensen is the present student body president and and a former head of the Manual Knights. Robert Clatworthy is president of the Cavalier class and held the same position as a Senior B. Jack Cortelyou is now en- gaged in the role of president of the Scholarship Society. He. also, is a Gold Seal graduate. Lee Haines is a captain in the R. . T. C. and is prominent in self-gov- ernment work. Each of these thirteen graduates, taking the Ephebian ath. We will never bring disgrace to this our city, by any act of dishonesty or cowardice, nor ever desert our suffering comrades in the ranks. will go forth from Manual doing their bit to transmit this city more beautiful and greater than it was transmitted to them.